Wrath of the Archdemon: Athena
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me" Psalm 23:4 Wrath of the Archdemon: Athena Act I First Encounter, Origin of Power It was dark. The night sky was clouded with tall, rolling thunderclouds, crackling and roaring above like an impending invasion or a foreboding prelude of a orchestra, playing doom's tune. The air is cold, electric, and wet, the imminent feeling of rainfall and lightning is almost as inevitable as the blood that will be spilled today. The men in equally dark garments of the Stealth Force knew this, for their tight-bodily garments that covered nearly all of their bodies still felt the elements and made the slight chill go up their spines. They knew why they were here; following their Lieutenant and Captain to seek out and assess the situation, and if possible, eliminate it. The threat was vague that was given to them, but a unveiling of massive Spiritual Pressure originating that of a Hollow or a multitude of Hollows, the answer unclear still, lied in the Cracked Valley, a place where the fields of grass flowed over to tall cliffs and down into many intricate tall rockfaced, intricate canyons, most of it marred with black and gray stone of nearly unknown origin. It was here, at the epicenter of the valley, what looked like a indentation in the eart itself from a large blast of sorts or terrible power, which caused the earth to crack and form the vulgar, twisted canyon valley they see today. And it was also at the epicenter, where the Spiritual Pressure was seen skyrocketing off the readings the 12th Division's Department of Research & Development found on their monitors. The wind blew across the edge of the valley, a flow of dark green grass like rippling of water as the storm began to gather over the valley and canyons. What happened next, was the inevitable. Nearly 50 pairs of feet landed silently on the grassy edge of the cliff, the center of the group had the two high ranking individuals that is the superiors fo the Stealth Force's Punishment Force officers that stood with them. Captain Seu-Feng of the 2nd Division, Commander-In-Chief of the Stealth Force and her subordinate, much to her chagrin, Marechiyo Ōmaeda, Lieutenant of the 2nd Division and Head of the Patrol Corps of the Stealth Force. The most dialouge traded among these fifty Soul Reapers, happened between these two superiors, as always. "C-C-Captain!" The Lieutenant stated out in distress, rubbing his forearms up and down, shivering and blue-faced with fear, "this place is scary! Why are we the only ones here and why are we so far away from the Soul Society?!-" WHAM! A solid back handed fist indented the Lieutenant's face comically, causing him to flail his arms in alarm and muffled painful pleas and cries from the unwaranted, as far as he knew, attack. "Stop your whining, Lieutenant! If you paid any attention during the debriefing instead of primping your pigish face and stuffing it full of junk, you would know that the origin of the Hollow Spiritual Pressure came from here. This is legendary area, the Cracked Valley, to a battle fought with a powerful force that once served the Soul King. It is said to be a large burial ground of the very species that fought and died against the Soul Reapers, as well as many Zanpakuto shards. Pay more respect here you fool, or you'll die of your ignorance!" "S-So cruel!" the Lieutenant cried and stroked his face gingerly, aware that some bruising will diminsh the beauty of his wonderful 'beautiful' face. Little did they know, the enemy was already aware of their presence.... "Let's move! Spread out and find the source of the Spiritual Pressure anonymoly! If you locate the enemy, don't engage and wait for the rest of us! If they attack, defend yourself!" Seu-Feng shouted out to her subordinates, all of them dispatching after a brief acknowledging nod from all of them simultaneously before using Flash Step, disappearing as silently as they came. However, her Lieutenant on the other hand, "Y-Y-Yes, Captain!" He stuttered, afraid at what he might find and had almost no intention on fighting the enemy alone at all. With a glare directed at him from his Captain, he immediately gulped and disappeared in a Flash Step of his own, disappearing towards the large, ruined valley and canyons. Seu-Feng took a deep breath, before exhaling, narrowing her eyes as she had felt the foreboding feeling that something of incredible power lurked within the valley. And she might not live to tell about it... Shaking her head, she moved in a rapid Flash Step of her own, moving much swifter and farther than her subordinates, aiming to move towards the center of the valley itself. Her hair whipped around, her cloak billowed around her lithe, black garbed form, her eyes cool and narrowed, giving her from the flashing lightning and thunder the appearance of a fearless demon. To anyone else, it would look like a challenge... But as soon as Seu-Feng dropped onto the ground, her slip-on sandals clacked noislessly against the uneven rock formation below her as she looked, in the center of the cracked earthen landscape rested a figure whose demonic visage knew no bounds. It radiated power...power she had never thought possible but of her Head Captain to possess. The power to shake herself to her core and her blood grow cold. As soon as her men descended soundlessly, albeit her Lieutenant was whimpering and complaining so loud its a wonder he didn't die first, much to her chagrin, they all grew silent as they all felt in a joining terror of the amazing power the Hollow before them had. "C...C...Captain?" Lieutenant Ōmaeda spoke aloud in a hoarse gasp, his face turned blue with fear and sweat came down like a rainstorm, symbolizing the downpour they have to face in a matter of minutes. "I-Is that a Vasto Lorde? A Hollow Lord?" One of the Stealth Force officers spoke aloud in a clear show of attempting to stave the fear within his own body. "It could be a Adhuchas, but I've never seen any with the level of Spiritual Pressure its giving off," a bald-headed Stealth Force officer responded. "Cease the chatter!" Seu-Feng said with a strong voice, her teeth bit down on the inside of her mouth, drawing blood to keep her own cool, looking over at her men, "this is the threat, the source of the incredible Hollow Power. Prepare to engage on my command!" "Yes, Captain!" They all said in unison, remembering their place in unison and began crouching, reaching for their individual Zanpakutos, beginning to unsheathe them with audible clicks and scrapes of metal meeting the sheathes. "F-Fight...that thing?! We must be insane?!" Ōmaeda thought with remorse and terror, his hand instinctively reached for his own Zanpakuto, but did not dare to unsheathe it, for fear of provoking the monster. This creature that stood before the Stealth Force was floating just a few feet off of the ground, it's legs put togather, it's arms spread out to it's sides, and it's two pronged tail slowly whirling around it. It's skin was a blackish blue shade, and it possessed numerous pieces of what appeared to be armor all around it's body. It's most notable traits however, were it's head and it's shoulders. The head itself was like a helmet of sorts, covering the top half of it. From the center of it emerged two black forward facing horns, one shorter than the other, and below them were two black holes, presumidibly where it's eyes would be. On it's shoulders were two similar shaped heads with pincher like blades on their lower facing side. They looked similar in design to the helmet itself, albeit split into two of course. Both of them had a similar black hole in their center each. It's chest also possessed two holes within it as well. One would normally expect it to be a demon, if they relied solely on their vision of course. With a piercing echo like noise, the eye on it's right shoulder revealed itself to be yellow and hollowish in appearance. Right after that, it's left hand counter part followed, then the right eye on the chest piece, then the left eye on the chest piece. After these eyes were open and upon the large squad of Soul Reapers, the eyes on the figures head opened, and a sinister growl was emited from the creatures mouth. The collaboration of soul reapers gasped, groaned, and yelled out from the grotesque display following by the gusting wind that came from its distinguishable Hollow-like roar, even Seu-Feng twitched and bit on her lip as her hair dangled all over behind her head and neck, fiercer than the winds of the above storm ever did, but her eyes were keen and poised to strike. With a raise of her hand, she shouted out, "Men! Formation D, Black Wasp Strike!" "Yes sir!" They say in unison, only Ōmaeda stayed behind as he backed up from the vicious, bloodthirsty abomination before him. As they charged towards their target with deft speed only known to their Division and their Force, they initialized a number of Flash Steps, appearing in a V-shaped position, as they all began throwing throwing knives to and fro, but not aiming for the beast, but rather stringing up a series of nigh invisible lines, strung with specially crafted Spiritual particles. Once completed, all of the men strung their spiritual energy into the twine, causing a series of blue electric lines to go forth from the lines around the beast and electrocute it high intensity, aiming to both shock and cut into the hollow's flesh, weakening it for a killing blow. The bald-headed Stealth Soul Reaper, drew his sword, looking onward towards the beast, saying lowly, "You're mine monster," before he Flash Stepped, appearing just past the beast as he cut along its neck and shoulderblade, his sword brimmed with the electric energy that continued to attempt to damage it as well as restrain it.